An absence of you
by weareneverbroken
Summary: Lucy dies while out on a mission. This piece evolves around the guild and how they cope with that loss. (one shot)


"There was nothing I could do…" Porlyusica said, her thin fingers wrapping around the white sheet as she pulled it up over the spirit-mage's face. Beside her, Wendy sobbed as her tiny fingers clutched the sheet until her knuckles turned white.

"No! Wendy fixed Jellal! You fixed Erza's eye! Why can't you fix Lucy?" Natsu demanded, clenching his fists at his side as he stared at the older mage in fury. This wasn't happening. Lucy had used great amounts of power before, for Christ's sake she had summoned the Spirit King! How was he supposed to believe that she had killed herself from summoning too many spirits? An armored hand reached out and rest upon his shoulder, shaking as it did its best to try and show support. Turning his head he gazed upon Erza's face now streaming with tears. Scarlett hair fell down over her face as she turned her eyes away from the corpse on the bed before them.

"I can heal a great many things but resurrection is something that is purely impossible." The mage explained.

"NO! NO! NO!" Natsu fumed as his abilities began to surface and flames began to coat his body. Stomping his feet like a child, he stormed out from the mage's hut and disappeared into the forest.

"Stupid flame-brain can't accept reality…" Grey muttered, stepping toward the bed and staring at it emptily.

"Thank you, Porlyusica. We'll take her back to the guild now." Erza said, watching as Grey slowly lifted her and the sheet before cradling her against his chest. This shouldn't be his job; he shouldn't have to carry his team-mates corpse back to the guild. He couldn't even begin to think of how he could possibly think of how he would have to explain to everyone how they had let her die. The two walked back to the guild in silence; tears streaming down Erza's face and Grey firmly pressing the stellar-mage's corpse to his bare chest.

* * *

Natsu lay wrapped in the comforters on Lucy's bed until Happy later found him there.  
"Natsu?" the blue cat asked as he flew in from the window and landed on the pillow beside Natsu's face.

"I'm not moving until Lucy comes home." He demanded, peeking out from the pink blankets to stare at his friend. The cat sighed and lowered his head resigning himself to curl into a ball beside his friend. Hours passed and Natsu never budged but instead fell asleep in the comfort of the blankets that smelled so much like the friend he was missing.

* * *

"The funeral will be held this coming Saturday at noon and will be followed by a gathering here." The Master's voice quivered slightly as he delivered the news. Below him, the members of the guild had gathered all switching out their usual attire for darker colors.

"Luuucccyyyy!" Levy cried, her arms folded before her as she cried into them. Behind her Gajeel stood patting her back with a look of discomfort on his face. Even he was having trouble processing this loss and even worse the great impact it had on Levy. The blue haired girl was a mess at the loss of her friend and the comfort she was receiving from her guildmates was ignored as she fell into depression.

In a far corner Grey sat by himself with bags under his eyes and a pale look to his face. He hardly spoke since they returned, opening up only once to yell at Juvia for clinging. Everyone had tried to talk to him; whether it was Elfman's encouraging words or an offer at Cana's liquor he had ignored it all. Even when the distraught Wendy and Charlie returned from the healer's hut he refused to speak.

"Where is Natsu?" Lisanna questioned, glancing over the slumped figures for a familiar patch of pink hair. Erza shook her head, glancing at the white-haired girl through puffy eyes.  
"He refuses to leave Lucy's bed until she comes home. He hasn't been eating." She replied, glancing over at the door to the guild as if she were hoping he would walk through any minute now. Following her gaze, Lisanna turned her eyes to the door and let out a low sigh before resting her head upon the wooden table before her.  
"Stupid Natsu. Doesn't he know we need him too?" she complained, rubbing her eyes to wipe away the tears.

The day of the funeral came as quickly as the Mage's death had and still Natsu refused to leave her bed. Happy stayed with him the entire time, bringing him all sorts of food and drinks but was refused every time. As the dragon slayer slept he called out her name, tossing and turning in her bed. His waking thoughts were plagued by her last moments and his dreams filled with memories of her.  
His friends pleaded to try and get him to come to the funeral with no luck. Even when Erza attempted to try and drag him from the bed he became violent and clung to it much as a child would. Eventually the group that came to retrieve him left without.  
The day after her funeral some of the guildmates came to pack up her belongings and was met with an angry mage who quickly chased them out. He hadn't realized it then, but that had been part of their plan even if it was only going to get him out from the bed for a few minutes. After that he began wandering around the apartment and rummaging through her things. He would read her novel and the letters she had written to her mother for a short while before returning to the bed that was slowly losing its Lucy smell and becoming replaced by that of an unwashed dragonslayer.  
It wasn't until a week after her funeral that he finally left her apartment. Dragging his feet he continued walking along the river's edge until he found himself at the entrance of the graveyard. With a deep inhale, he allowed Happy to guide him to her grave. His hands trembled as he stared at the cold slab of stone before him with his best friend's name etched on its surface.

"_Lucy Heartfilia. Beloved daughter and friend to celestial spirits." _

His dark eyes welled up with tears as he dropped to his knees before her grave, finally admitting to himself that she was truly gone. Bowing his head, he reached forward and dragged his fingers along the cool stone. She was really gone. The bright sunny Lucy was lost forever to this world and he was too busy being a child to even go to her funeral. The few tears became a stream as he sat there staring at the stone with grief in his eyes.

"Took you long enough, flame breath." Grey grumbled as he walked up to grave and placed a bouquet of white lilies before the grave. Natsu only glanced up at him, his eyes passing over Grey's face for a quick moment. The bags under his eyes were nearly black and he was pale enough to be sick. From a glance Natsu could tell that Grey hardly had a night's sleep since Lucy had died.

"Shut up, Ice princess. This is hardly the time for your stupid words." Natsu replied. Even though that was what he had said, Grey could see a tiny bit of life pour back into the dragon slayer.

It was going to be rough, but the guild would push past and continue life because that's what he knew Lucy would want.

* * *

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